The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

This hub is going to review The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, the fourth game of The Legend of Zelda saga and the first handheld iteration of the series. This game has a lot of neat cross-references with other Nintendo videogames (Yoshi Doll, anyone?) and, while it's no Link to the Past, it can stand on its own merits.

Read on and see what makes this game great!

The story begins with Link being stranded on Koholint Island after sailing from Hyrule (this, after beating Ganon at the Pyramid of Power in A Link To The Past). You will uncover the secrets of this strange island as you clear each dungeon and explore the land. While this game doesn't take place in Hyrule, it still feels like a classic Zelda game.

The gameplay is standard Zelda fare. Your hit point total is measured in hearts, and you can claim Heart Containers from bosses and Pieces of Heart from places scattered around the island to increase your total (you start with 3). You can have two items equipped (one can be set to the B button and the other to the A button) and you run around the map slaying enemies and unlocking dungeons which need to be defeated for magical instruments that will eventually lock the door to the final battle and your escape from the island. This game follows the convention established in earlier Zelda games of having the player use an instrument of his own to play songs to solve certain puzzles.

The music isn't anything to write home about, but it's not particularly bad either. Unlike most other Zelda games, there is no mention of the main villain (Ganon) or any mention of Princess Zelda at all. Fan speculation about Zelda being the girl that finds you on the beach at the beginning of the game is rampant on the internet, but it has been neither confirmed nor denied by the game developers.

The graphics are pretty good, considering what they had to work with on the game's release (a portable system that didn't even have the capability to display more than black, white, and shades of gray).

On a final note, a Game Boy Color version of this game was released some time later and is named Link's Awakening DX. It has an extra dungeon, wherein you can find armor that halves the damage you suffer from enemy attack.

This is a worthy game of the Zelda series, and while it may not measure up to some of the games released before and after, I still recommend at least trying it out to see if you like it.

Until the next time, take care and have fun! ;)

-Winterfate

Post-publish edit: Link's Awakening DX is now available at the 3DS eShop for $5.99. If you have a 3DS, this game is definitely a must-buy!